PV Sindhu seeks SAI’s approval to hire former Malaysian shuttler Muhammed Hafiz Hashim as her new personal coach

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is looking to hire her new coach former All England Open champion Muhammad Hafiz Hashim as she seeks approval from the Sports Authority of India (SAI). She has written a letter to the SAI seeking approval to train under the Malaysian.

Sindhu has had a tough year with plenty of first-round exits and injury concerns. She will now look to bounce back with the Asian Games coming up followed by the Paris Olympics next year. She desperately needs someone who can guide her in some aspects and boost her morale at the court even when things are not going in her favour.

“I think SAI will approve her proposal,” former national coach Vimal Kumar told PTI. “She is an elite player for India and is likely to be the only women’s singles player to qualify for the Paris Olympics.”

The proposal will be discussed in the next Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) meeting. These meetings are held where the MOC members get together and discuss the key agendas of India’s programme along with the proposals sent by the TOPS athletes.

Vimal Kumar shared how one national coach cannot deal with so many players. He pointed out how Viktor Axelsen has a different coach and now Sindhu is trying out different coaches. He highlights how these players need individual attention.

“She had a good two to three years with Park (Tae-Sang) and now Hafiz. Look, I don’t know how good are his coaching credentials but he was a good player 20 years back. Sometimes all it takes is a spark,” Vimal Kumar added.

Sindhu suffered a major stress fracture during her run to the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She was out of action for many months and even after returning, she was unable to find her feet with plenty of first-round exits. Her highlight since her return has been a runners-up finish at the Spanish Masters. She also made it to the semifinals of the Malaysian Masters 500.

Sindhu parted ways with her coach, Park Tae-Sang in February this year. The Korean played a massive role in Sindhu’s bronze medal triumph at the Tokyo Olympics. She has been working with SAI coach Vidhi Chaudhury ever since. Unfortunately, Sindhu also dropped out of the top 10 BWF Rankings for the first time since 2016.

Currently, it has been two weeks since she has been working with Hafiz at the Suchitra Badminton Academy and with the Olympics qualification period going on, she will have to up her game in the upcoming events.